Clinical Social Work Institute, Washington, D.C.

Does anyone have any information about this school? It offers a PhD program and advertises in the NASW News.

 

Here's its website:

http://www.wdc-cswi.org/intro.htm

It doesn't appear to be accredited and I don't see anything about state (or in this case district) approval. I don't know anything about social work, so I can't say how credible it is.

There's an apparently unrelated Institute of Clinical Social Work in Chicago that's RA. But the NCA/HLC says that it needs accreditor approval to open remote sites and apparently none are currently approved.

http://www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org/directory/?Action=ShowBasic&instid=1489

There's also a California Institute of Clinical Social Work that's CA-approved. Apparently it has recently changed its name to the Sanville Institute.

http://cicsw.edu/index.html

 

Re: Re: Clinical Social Work Institute, Washington, D.C.

Thanks for the info., Bill. I was interested in the ICSW in Chicago, as well. I hadn't realized that it was RA. I'll check out the Sanville Institute too.

 

Hey Patsfan - are any of these DL? Washington DC? Chicago?
If you're in Massachusetts then you're surrounded by PhD programs. Why are you looking at these? Why not BU, BC, Simmons, UConn, etc.
Jack
(MSW, Simmons College)

 

Jack,
I'm not planning to start on a PhD any time soon, since I'm rather busy working on a DMin right now. I enjoy exploring the DL options for doctoral work, nonetheless. What kind of sw do you do?

 

Kind of expensive, I think

Wow! $12,000 a year plus fees for an unaccredited degree. It looks like a solid, real degree but the same degree at Cal State down the road would be about $1,800 per year plus fees--accredited by both WASC and the social work accreditor. Neither is DL.

Craig

 

Hi Tom - I'm sorry for being a bit obscure, but when I ask a civil question and instead of an answer I receive a question related to my personal life I tend to shy away. If you think an unaccredited degree will serve you well then I'll not try to change your mind. I hear SCUPS is popular with Social Workers...
Jack

 

Suit yourself.

 

Yes, of course, I will. And thanks for confirming my earlier impression.
Jack

 

So then I decided to do a bit of research and I wrote to the good folks at the Clinical Social Work Institute. I asked a few fairly blunt questions and just today I received a reply. As I had stated in my original inquiry that I would be sharing the information with others I feel that I am able to summarize the information I received.
The school opened in 1999 once it received its license to operate from the DC Education Licensing Commision. They are currently licensed through 2007. They are in the process of being accredited by the Middle States Commission of Higher Education and have set up quality assurance standards that are in concert with those required by that organization. When I asked if there was anything about their program that set them apart from other PhD Social Work programs they mentioned "cultural competency" and their "research sequence." I believe that any Clinical Social Work PhD program could make the same claims in those areas. However, they also mentioned that students take a year of neuroscience coursework which is integrated into the general curriculum. In my experience, this is unusual and may actually set them apart and make them the preferred program for some people.
Overall, this may be one of the few unaccredited schools worth exploring further. This school might also prove the old maxim that if you find a really good unaccredited school they probably won't be unaccredited for long. It looks like a high quality start-up specialty school to me. It's got a big price tag and for that I'd expect some special attention toward student services as well as flexible programming for working students.
Jack